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Out of Africa

by spikeNdru

Genre: Gen; Action/Adventure

Pairings: Xander and Ensemble; no pairings yet.

Rating: PG-13

Timeline: Two years post-Chosen

Disclaimers: The characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox; they aren't currently using them so I'm borrowing them for awhile.

 

Chapter   1   2   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25

26   27   28   29   30  

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Chapter Three

From almost the moment the plane took off, Willow felt the tension between her shoulder blades ease. She felt lighter and more free with each successive mile away from home.

Whoa! Where did that come from? she wondered. Her life was fine—wasn't it? She was a respected member of the Council, living and working with a slayer—why did she feel she had just been marking time and was only now getting back to her real work?

Willow reclined the airline seat as far back as it would go—which was only about three inches, but hey! she was reclining—and thought about the possible source of the tension.

The slayer was the one with the mission; the people around the slayer were the back-up. She knew that. Funny. She hadn't really minded playing second-banana to Buffy. She'd been in on things practically from the beginning and she knew how Buffy's mind worked. She trusted Buffy.

With Kennedy it was different. Because they were in a relationship? Because Kennedy was a very different type of slayer from Buffy? Kennedy was never one for the planning. Stake first, ask questions later; that was Kennedy's style. Much of Willow's careful research and strategy was brushed off as if it was unimportant or outright ignored in the heat of battle. And that could get people killed.

Willow looked out the window of the plane. Bird's eye view. Flying thousands of feet in the air and thousands of miles north of her daily life did give her a different perspective. A bird's eye view. An ability to see the big picture. She finally got it. Kennedy the Vampire Slayer wasn't at all like Buffy — she was like Faith.

Willow's hands clenched and she could feel her shoulders tightening. The tension was back.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Willow arrived, fully visible, her plane only 27 minutes late. To be fair, a large portion of the 27 minutes was spent over—if not actually in—LA, waiting for clearance to land. She experienced a brief moment of déjà vu when she didn't immediately spot a welcoming committee. She lifted her hand, waving it in front of her face. Nope. Not checking for visibility at all. Not me. She was surprised to see an answering wave from the area behind the boarding gate that she had already checked and dismissed.

Ohmigod! It was them! The ruggedly handsome mature-looking Tom-Selleck-in-his-Magnum, PI-days-that-she-used-to-have-such-a-crush-on was actually Xander! And that must mean the tall—ohmigod, she must be at least 5'10”—willowy super-model with him was Dawn!

Willow waved happily as she hurried to the gate. Frantic waving was returned by the welcoming committee, and there may have been some jumping up and down.

“Wow! Look at you guys! Dawn, you're . . . all grown up. When did that happen? And Xander! You look good. Really good! Almost good enough to make me wish I was straight!”

“And we're not even dressed in formal wear—how 'bout that!”

Willow laughed and punched him on the shoulder.

“Hey! Isn't that the sign that a girl likes a guy? If she punches him on the arm?”

“Yeah, Xander. If they're twelve. And it's usually the guy who does the punching.”

“That's okay. I've never been hung up on gender roles . . .”

Dawn rolled her eyes.

“Well, that's it. We've been officially reprimanded by the patented 'Dawn eye-roll'.”

“Oh, pu-lease! You guys can 'almost-flirt' with each other later. Right now, I'm starving! Willow, you up for Chinese, Mexican, Indian or Thai?”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Back at the apartment, Willow took a quick shower while Dawn got out utensils, paper plates and napkins, and Xander made coffee.

They gathered in the living room and dug in. Willow reached for her coffee, just as Xander arrived at the punchline of his story about Andrew and the mbuna fish and she sputtered, spraying droplets of coffee all over her slacks. A napkin floated through the air and came to rest on her thigh, blotting up the coffee drops.

“I didn't do that! I swear I didn't! I don't use magic to benefit myself any more—I promise!”

Dawn reached for her hand. “It's okay, Willow. We believe you. That was just Dennis being helpful.”

“Dennis?”

“Oh, yeah. Guess we forgot to tell you, Will. We sort of have an additional roommate—but don't worry, he doesn't take up much space and he's quiet and—”

“Xander!” Dawn cut him off. “His name is Phantom Dennis and he's a ghost. He was a friend of Cordy's and he's very helpful. Dennis, in case we forgot to tell you, this is our friend, Willow. She also went to high school with Cordy and my sister, and she'll be staying with us for awhile.”

Willow gave a friendly smile and held out her hand.

“Hey, Dennis. It's good to meet you. Thanks for your help.”

An additional napkin wafted toward her and touched her outstretched hand. She grasped it and felt a firm pressure for a moment, and then it was gone and she was holding just a napkin.

“So, Will . . . any ideas about how we're gonna locate this Connor? And have I mentioned how good it is to see you?”

“No . . . yeah. I mean, no I don't have any ideas about Connor, but I'm sure we'll come up with something. And, yes, you may have mentioned something about— Ohmigod, Xander! I've missed you so much! I've felt so isolated . . .”

Xander got up from the floor where he had been sitting cross-legged on the other side of the coffee table. Both Willow and Dawn scooted over and he plopped down between them on the couch and put an arm around each of them.

“I know . . . I've felt isolated, too. I thought it was just me—you had Kennedy and Dawn was with Buffy . . .”

“Yeah, right,” Dawn mumbled under her breath.

“. . . and even Giles had Andrew. Er, not implying that Giles had Andrew in the sense of actually having—”

Willow patted him on the knee. “Breathe, Xander. As far as I know, Giles and Andrew's relationship is completely platonic.”

“Relationship? They have a relationship?”

“In the same sense that we have a relationship with Giles.”

“I knew that! Holy moly, Willow—there's something about being around you that makes me feel like I'm back in junior high.”

“Maybe that's 'cause we were hanging around together when we were in junior high? Besides, although he respected Giles, I always got the impression Andrew had a thing for Spike.”

“Well, who didn't? Um . . . forget I said that.”

Willow laughed and then yawned. She stood, placed her hand in the small of her back and arched backward in an attempt to stretch out the knotted muscles. She rolled her shoulders.

“Long plane ride,” she explained. “You know what, guys? I think the jet lag is catching up with me, but I'm too tight to sleep right now. I think I'll take a walk before I turn in.”

“I'll come with.” Xander got to his feet. “Dawn and I were jumped by a trio of vamps the other night a couple of blocks from here, and I'd been meaning to check out the area. Wanna come, Dawn?”

“Do you need me to come along? 'Cause, sure, I'd be happy to help patrol.”

“This isn't a regular patrol yet, Dawnster. It's just a walk with some reconnoitering thrown in. So if you'd like to come for a walk with us, we'd be happy to have you, but if you'd rather stay here, that's cool, too.”

“In that case, I'm sorta beat. I'd rather call it a night and give you guys a chance to spend some time together.”

“Okey-dokey. Sleep well.” Xander gestured to the carved wooden chest that Akuma had shipped to him as soon as he'd gotten an LA address. Xander wasn't going to be caught unprepared again.

“Weapons, Will?” he offered. Xander shoved several stakes into his pockets and slid the double-bladed ax in its leather sheath over his shoulder, then covered it with his jacket.

Willow grabbed a handful of stakes.

“Wait'll you see the cool move I developed,” Willow said excitedly. “I zero in on a target—in this case, a vamp's heart—throw the stake and just kinda give it a little nudge with my mind and it's like it turns into a heat-seeking missile or something. It's way cool!”

Willow tucked her hand into the crook of Xander's left arm as they walked out of the apartment laughing and chattering.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Dawn smiled as she threw out empty cartons and put left-over food in the fridge. She put the coffee cups and silverware in the dishpan to soak and decided they could wait till tomorrow.

She draped her clothes over a chair and slipped into a pair of sleep pants and a cotton camisole. She padded on bare feet into the bathroom and washed her face and brushed her teeth.

Back in her room, she reached for her hairbrush, but it rose of its own accord and slid gently through her long, thick hair. She closed her eyes in bliss.

“Thanks, Dennis. That feels wonderful. I don't know how I ever got along without you!”

Behind her closed eyelids, the room seemed to brighten with a glow of happiness.

Dawn could feel her whole body relaxing as her very efficient roommate continued to brush her hair.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Willow felt her cramped muscles and shortened ligaments loosen and stretch as they walked. She lengthened her stride and felt the tension in her mind ease as well as her body. Xander laughed in all the right places as she recounted anecdotes about her life in South America that she had found highly amusing, but Kennedy never seemed to get. She hadn't felt this close to Xander since high school. How had they let their friendship sort of wither away? Well, she wouldn't make that mistake again. No matter what else was going on in her life with work, lovers or magical studies, there'd always be room for Xander.

Xander raised his head and looked around. They'd been so focused on each other, they hadn't been paying attention to their surroundings, and they must have walked farther than he'd planned. They'd left the residential area with its apartments and restaurants and stores far behind and they now seemed to be in the middle of a warehouse district.

Maybe they should turn around right now, before they penetrated any farther into this dark, deserted area that was probably a haven for vampires and other bad demons. It was one thing to be prepared to defend yourself in a heavily populated area—it was quite another to go looking for trouble. Xander's eye met Willow's, and he could see that she was right there with him.

They turned, looking carefully at the dark, silent buildings and the thick clumps of shadow and began to hurriedly retrace their steps. They hadn't gone far when they heard a woman scream, amid sounds of fighting off to their left. They looked at each other, Xander drew his battle ax, and they took off running toward the sounds of battle.

By the time they arrived at where they thought the sounds had originated, everything was quiet. Xander risked a quick glance at Willow. She shrugged.

Xander caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He spun toward the movement, but wasn't quite fast enough. Before he could react, he found himself flat on his back in the alley, straddled by a blonde in a hot-pink spandex catsuit and gold lamé cape. There were definitely worse ways to die!

Be still, my heart! Xander thought. And other appendages he quickly added. It had been a while, and how often do you find yourself actually in the position to live out your adolescent fantasies—

Xander blinked his eye and looked closer. “Harmony?”

“Xander? Xander Harris, it is you! Ohmigod! What are you doing in LA?”

“I'm on vacation. What the hell are you doing, Harmony? And why are you dressed like that?”

“Oh! I'm a Superhero!” Harmony smiled brightly. “And you're supposed to be what—a pirate?”

Xander sighed.

 

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Continue to  Chapter Four

 

 

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